Global Update: Here’s To Higher Rents

News from luxury-home markets around the world

A new report from real estate brokerage Redfin found that while sales of million-dollar-plus U.S. homes soared in the first quarter of 2015, the top end of the luxury market, defined as “the priciest 5% of properties,” displayed its slowest growth in three years: less than 1% over the same period last year. Furthermore, these super-prime properties are taking longer to find purchasers, sitting on the market for 96 days, up four days from the first quarter of 2014. Read the full report. [Redfin]

Do higher rents equal happy tenants? A new study by Apartment List finds that residents renting in the more expensive American cities, identified as San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C., report “more confidence in the local economy, felt safer from crime and enjoyed the parks, recreation and nightlife” more than their peers in less pricey parts of the country. [Fox Business]

And if high rent can make you happy, then these people must be very happy. Bloomberg reports on the rise of the ultra-high-end rental in New York City (“82 apartments renting for at least $50,000 a month”). Some of these “high-end renters take temporary digs as they try out life in a particular neighborhood.” [Bloomberg]

There’s no place like home. We told you about the rising class of high-net-worth Indians purchasing properties abroad. Would you be shocked to learn that these same affluent investors are driving the rapidly expanding luxury real estate market at home in India? [Financial Chronicle]

Miami, meet Metropica. A 65-acre mixed-use development featuring “a 263-unit residential tower with views of the Everglades and a 480,000-square-foot mall anchored by the luxury cinema iPic Theaters, as well as two hotels, an apartment building and office space,” is coming to a Miami suburb near West Broward. The mega-complex, a $1 billion project, will eventually include 1,800 housing units. And yes, it is called Metropica. [Miami Herald]

Heady days in Hong Kong. Realtors are preparing to test what the ultraluxury market will bear as “Swire Properties is seeking buyers for six apartments at its Frank Gehry-designed building priced as high as $HK520 million ($US67 million).” [The Sydney Morning Herald]

Hungary for more. Real estate investors betting on Budapest are seeing nice returns as the city becomes more popular with tourists. Bidding wars and record rates rule the day as the “ridiculously cheap” city proves to be a profitable property investment. [Bloomberg]

Mandalay, the prime Point Piper property described as “one of Sydney’s finest mansions,” has sold to (you guessed it) a Chinese immigrant for $40 million, substantially below its initial asking price of $56 million. It is the second highest home sale in Sydney this year. [The Australian]